BEETLEJUICE – Original Broadway Cast (Ghostlight Records)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
As with a lot of musical adaptations of films, plays, etc you often wonder if it is going to be successful or an utter flop. Well, I haven’t actually seen Beetlejuice on stage but I have the next best thing and that is this wonderfully witty cast recording.
I knew as soon as the Prologue started playing that I was going to love this musical and I have to say I was not disappointed. Eddie Perfect has written the music and lyrics and has captured the fun and kookiness of the film intact. Carefully crafting the dark humour to keep us on our toes.
In the titular role, Alex Brightman gives us a very raspy, creepy Betelgeuse and brings the character, with all his charmless qualities, to life in your speakers. His ‘The Whole ‘Being Dead’ Thing’ is brilliant as is ‘Fright Of Their Lives’ but those are just two of the stand-out numbers among the 18 tracks on the CD.
Tracks also include: ‘Invisible’, ‘Ready Set Not Yet’, ‘Dead Mom’, ‘Fright Of Their Lives’, ‘No Reason’, ‘On the Roof’, ‘Say My Name’, ‘Day O’, ‘Girl Scout’, ‘That Beautiful Sound’, ‘Creepy Old Guy’ and others.
Other members of the cast worth mentioning for their outstanding performances are Sophia Anne Caruso as Lydia Deetz, Kerry Butler and Rob McClure as the Maitlands and Leslie Kritzer as Delia Deetz/Miss Argentina.
This has made me wish I was actually in New York and able to get along to see the production – it sounds like an absolute winner to me.
Nick Wakeham
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